Rapids coach quick to claim “underdog” status in MLS Cup Final

FC Dallas coach Schellas Hyndman touted his team’s “underdog” status every chance he got last week as his team prepared to take on the star-studded Los Angeles Galaxy in the MLS Western Conference final, but after FCD’s resounding 3-0 victory over LA, Rapids coach Gary Smith won’t let Hyndman play that card again.

Smith’s team will face FCD in the MLS Cup Final Sunday in Toronto, taking on a team that set an MLS record this year with a 19-game unbeaten streak. Hyndman was named MLS coach of the year.

“Listen,” Smith said, “you can’t be coach of the year, you can’t win 3-nil away from home, and you can’t break all the records they have and still be underdogs,” Smith said. “If he comes out and says, ‘I shouldn’t have gotten coach of the year, we shouldn’t have won 3-nil away from home, and those records we broke were a joke,’ then they can have the underdog tag.

“If he’s using the underdog tag to motivate his group, he’s (in trouble) this weekend, because they ain’t. We are. We have to be.”

Relax, Rapids fans. Smith was being playful, and perhaps hoping to instill a bit of over-confidence in his opponent. I sense Smith likes his team’s chances.

“I think we’re more than capable of beating them,” Smith said. “I have no lack of confidence in what this team can produce.”